Badger Cull

[Mungo]

So here's another question: why did badgers recieve protection in the first place?

 

[HuN73R666]

Good question Mungo! As far as I am aware they were never endangered, unless it was before my time.

Is it another case of, they are cute and fluffy looking therefore should not be controlled? Rather like the fox is becomming!

 

[jack]

My understanding is that the 1973 badger act was designed to prevent badger baiting.
The problem came with the 1992 enhancement introduced by John Major and his weak Government, designed to garner public support.
This made any activity which was injurious to a badger illegal.
So blame the politicians, as usual.
Protection of Badgers Act 1992

As they have no predator, as man killed all the bears and wolves, we have to take responsibility for their management, which the politicians have wonderfully failed to discharge.

I listened to a report on Radio 4 to the effect that because badgers and hedgehogs both eat worms, the increase in the number of badgers has reduced the available food to hedgehogs and badgers also predate hedgehogs.

The vector (17?) of BTb which badgers carry is the same one which cattle develop. It is a proven and causal link.

Bovine TB

BBC News - Badgers cause Whinlatter Pass road repairs

 

[devonfoxer]

i spoke to a friend who shoots one of the test areas he went on the badger cull training course most alarming was that 8 of the 15 so called shots there failed to put a round through a 3 inch circle at 70 yrds there for could not continue with the course.apparently these people had no land to shoot of thier own and had singed up to the cull to obtain shooting permission.they have dropped the fee for bagging and tagging a badger to 10 pounds from the original 50.i totally agree with old keeper he hit the nail so firmly on the head.if the government wanted a true picture of tb numbers in badgers why dont they just examine every road kill badger country wide no need for killing not to upset the bunny huggers.and who knows they might even get a true result atb stu

 

[Bandit Country]

if the government wanted a true picture of tb numbers in badgers why dont they just examine every road kill badger country wide no need for killing not to upset the bunny huggers.and who knows they might even get a true result atb stu

Which was what used to happen years ago. Rural bobbies were required to collect road kill badgers as part of there routine patrol duties and send them off for testing.

 

[shortshot]

But shooting alone for a 6 week cull window is never going too be effective. Hell thousands of people, shoot, trap,dig foxes 52 weeks a year and still there seems too be no real effect on numbers.
This trial cull is designed too fail; gassing infected setts is the only realistic solution. The NFU are setting the farming community up by agreeing to this trial within such unworkable parameters. When it has failed too have any effect; the politically correct will conclude that killing badgers has no effect on btb incidence.

 

[HuN73R666]

hasnt this already happened with the last lot of random badger cull trials?

But shooting alone for a 6 week cull window is never going too be effective. Hell thousands of people, shoot, trap,dig foxes 52 weeks a year and still there seems too be no real effect on numbers.
This trial cull is designed too fail; gassing infected setts is the only realistic solution. The NFU are setting the farming community up by agreeing to this trial within such unworkable parameters. When it has failed too have any effect; the politically correct will conclude that killing badgers has no effect on btb incidence.

 

[Cyres]

Well all the badgers dead on the road/verges arround me seem to be picked up very quickly. Also could never fathom out why on the hard shoulder of the M5 you would come across 2-3 dead badgers in places you had never seen one dead before.

D

 

[finnbear270]

Nail hit on head!

You are quite right though - we have radically altered the balance of the system - by 'raising' badgers to the status of 'protected'. Up until then (i.e over the last millenium, before that it was done by wolves, etc.), local keepers would simply maintain their populations at sensible levels. That's why all the above were able to coexist. There has, however, been one other major change that has also made a massive difference to the numbers of badgers produced each year, and that's the widespread farming of cattle maize. Again, I think it unlikely that there have been any studies on this. I can, however, tell you that I spend, on average, about six nights a week out foxing with both NV and thermal imaging, and I see LOTS of badgers. I doubt there are many professional biologists who see as many as I do...